This was my second year racing Evergreen Lake triathlon. Last year I finished 4^th, passed by Jennifer Garrison in the final mile of the run putting me just outside a cash award. This year I was determined to stay with the leaders throughout the duration of the race.

 My older brother Gavin (if you can’t tell by now we do most races together) and I camped along with a few friends. I was the last to arrive to the open camping area provided at Comlara County Park. After making some final adjustments on my bike I checked it into transition and set up my tent. We went to bed early to get a good night’s sleep. Camping adjacent to transition has it’s benefits, we were able to literally roll out of bed as we heard other athletes arriving, allowing us to sleep in until 5:30 am, a late wake up call compared to most race mornings.

 We’ve had a warm summer this year to say the least, today was no different. The water was a sweltering 84 degrees, therefore no wetsuits were legal. After forgetting to pack my speedsuit last weekend, I made sure to bring it along this time. My first opportunity (and probably the last) to use my Aqua sphere speedsuit.   

 Evergreen Lake Olympic Triathlon is the Best of the US qualifier for Illinois amateurs as well as the Midwest Collegiate Regional Championships. Between the two championship races taking place the field was stacked with talent.

 The elite wave included both male and female athletes. Remembering a rough start last year getting pummeled by guys, I attempted to get out in front right away. As the start gun went off the lead pack of men, lead by Gavin separated from the field. I stuck with the 2^nd pack of men for the first 400 yards. At the first turn buoy I was able to drop the majority of the pack with a few stragglers staying with me. Because of the sighting issues I’ve been having this season I tried using anti-fog spray in my goggles. This seemed to work, usually about mid-way into the swim my goggles start to fog up and I lose most of my vision. Not this time, I could still see clearly coming around the far buoys. The leaders must have swum wide outside the course and most of the guys followed them. Since I could still see, I continued on track swimming straight from buoy to buoy. This is an absolute first for me.

As I came into the home stretch I noticed to my left another swimmer with a decent stroke. We raced into the swim finish, I came out of the water slightly ahead, as I struggled with the zipper on my speed suit I noticed it was Nicole Voelkel. She crossed the timing mat first.

 

Swim:   21:59

 As I hopped on my bike there was a guy struggling to get his shoes on while riding on the far left side. After yelling on your left; count it 4 times, I went around and passed him on his right. Later I found out that he received a blocking penalty and I received a penalty for passing on the right.

At mile 2 I passed a collegiate woman, Michelle Mehnert. At this point I was under the impression that Jennifer Garrison was still out ahead of me. Nicole crept up on me around mile 5 of the bike, but I was able to pull ahead again. A man passed telling me I was 45 seconds ahead, I assumed he meant Nicole was 45 seconds back, but at mile 13 to my surprise it was Jenny Garrison who had been behind me. We went back and forth a few times. I dug deep in my legs and did my best to pull out in front again, I was successful and she did not follow this time. I continued to hammer through the remainder of the course knowing I was now the leading female.

 Bike: 1:07.10 (42k)

 Heading out on the run, I was able to see Jenny come into transition. I knew I had about a minute on her now. If I could have a solid run I could stay ahead. My shins weren’t feeling too bad, although I still hadn’t been running outside of races.

 I ran out with a training partner of mine, Matt Thibodeau, he quickly took off ahead of me after the first mile. The run course was through corn fields in central, IL. There was no opportunity for shade or a breeze, just the sun beating down on us. The run course did offer two 180 degree turns allowing you to catch a glimpse at your position. At each turn I was able to pull a little farther ahead. I also saw many familiar faces from my training groups and racing in the men’s elite race. As I came down the home stretch I saw my family and friends cheering me on.

 

Run:  43:38

Triathlon Time: 2:12.10 (+2 min penalty)

  

overall winners

This was my first time finishing before Jennifer Garrison, although it was not her best day racing that is still a huge accomplishment for me. While eating lunch after the race, Gavin and I sat chatting with the pro athletes. I was able to discuss going pro next year with Bryan Roads, Andy Starykowicz, and Jenny Garrison. I gained some helpful insight into my decision.

 I acquired my first penalty as discussed above for passing on the right. Luckily I won by over 2 minutes, therefore it did not skew the results or cash awards distributed. I have discussed the call with numerous officials since Evergreen tri, all of which disagree with the call to both athletes (should have just been one). I will take it as a learning experience.

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Here is some crude video from our experience at Ironman Canada this year.  I will write up a real “race report” soon.  Thanks to all the support from our Timex cree and teammates!

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When I was back in the business world – working 55-65 hours per week, traveling most weeks, and still doing triathlon – I would tell my oldest son (now 31): “you can do it all.”  Well, since my transition from crazy Type-A on steroids to a more relaxed, less stressed life of pursuing my passion, that “drive” to do it all has subsided a bit … until this weekend.

I raced the Utah Half (a half-ironman race) in Provo on Saturday morning, and immediately left, drove 7.5 hours to Denver, and caught the last 1.5 hours of the Green Day concert  Jodee and I were so looking forward to.  A classic 21 hour day!

The race went great.  Becasue I left so quickly, I did not know until Sunday afternoon that I actually won my age group (thanks to my Timex teammate, Trista Francis!).  This was my third race in 3 weeks, and all have been solid performances.  The 5:51 Pearl St. Mile was big.  A 1:35 half-marathon on trail last weekend, following a big bike the day before was big (and good enough for 3rd); but, Saturday’s “victory” is really big for me mentally.

I really focused on racing – concentrating, not waving to people, not thanking every single volunteer out there (though, I still did a lot of that), and staying focused.  This is why I chose a smaller, non-Boulder area race, where no one would know me.  It worked.  After an “OK” swim (the course was notably long, per the swim director, and clear by the times; plus a very long run to the TA and timing mat), my bike (2:39) and run (1:48) were solid.  I was comfortable throughout, hydrated and fueled well (thanks PowerBar), and my equipment was excellent.  My Orbea Ordu gave its usual awesome performance; but, the best surprise – equipment wise – were my new K-Swiss Blade-Light Runs.  I have honestly never run in a better fitting, lightweight (especially for my size 13!) shoe that felt fantastic throughout, sockless.

I also used my Timex Global Trainerfor the race – mainly to keep me “honest” on the bike … and it did.  I routinely checked my pace to be sure I was working hard enough; and, a couple of times it, indeed, served to wake me up.  This certainly allowed me to hit my average speed of 21.13 MPH for the 56 miles.  I felt great and ran 7:30’s for the first few miles – easily – but, one bathroom stop, and a wrong turn on the run (my fault) cost me at least 2-3 minutes.  I also had a minor side stitch a few times that caused me to be a bit more conservative.  Overall, great race, though … and a win for this old guy!

The picture here shows some new friends I met the day before and at the race – a wonderful father-son team.  The father successfully did IM St. George this spring, and this was his son’s first half.  He did great.  They loved the Timex Ford Flex … and were “rewarded” for their spirit by getting a couple of cool Timex t-shirts.  Good people!

So, this was Saturday, Part 1 – 4 AM to 1 PM.  Part 2 consisted of an immediate 7.5 hour drive to Denver to meet Jodee (who got their by bus and light rail) to see Green Day in concert.  I got there one hour into the show, but still caught their last 1.5 hours. They are absolutely one of our favorite bands, and the show exceeded our expectations.  Simply amazing!  Even though my legs were screaming, and we stood for the show, it was well worth the pain.  Got home at 12:15 – got to bed at 1 … 21 hours after waking for the half.  Good prep for Ironman!

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This was my 8th year participating at the Timberman 1/2 IM. Yeah, I really like this race. Although, It was quite a bit different this year under the new ownership. The race expanded to over 2,700+. This was about 800 more than last year and a far cry from the 500+ that competed in the first year. Here’s a pic of the transition area:

I drove up to the race on Saturday morning in the most comfortable ride around:

I love this car.
I wanted to get up to the race venue early to register and get organized. I was able to catch up with teammate Mark Vermeersch and last year’s teammate Mike Lavery on Saturday at registration. They were looking super fit and ready to have some fun on Sunday. Both Mark and Mike had fantastic races on Sunday.
Race morning came in with perfect weather conditions. It was in the high 60s/low 70s and overcast. We even got a little bit of rain on the bike and run. You just couldn’t ask for better weather conditions. I always plan a race strategy with my coach, Paul Regensburg (http://lifesportcoaching.com/coaches.php). The strategy for Timberman was to swim hard, then build into the bike and try to hit the 2nd half more aggressively then the 1st half. We’ve had different approaches at the other races this year. While each race course and weather conditions are different, we’ve noticed that I’ve had problems maintaining a strong 2nd half bike this year in my 70.3 races. So for the Kona prep, the strategy was to hit the 2nd half hard and get the run right up to pace and hold it.
My swim wave was scheduled to go off at 7:55am. It was the 13th wave of the morning. I saw Zach Pratt before the swim start and I thought we might be able to work together on the swim. I had swam behind Zach at 70.3 Rhode Island. So, I thought that if we could work together on the swim, we could be more efficient. However, that game plan went out the window when we got about 400 meters into the swim and started to catch the wave in front of us. It became too crowded. So, I spent the entire swim by myself. This worked out ok as I just focused on finding my rhythm and trying to avoid the packs of athletes swimming on top of each other. I exited the swim in 27:45. My Aquasphere Ironman Icon worked perfectly.

I was out onto my Orbea Ordu and ready to try to put the game plan into effect: I settled in and made sure I got my heart rate under control. I relied on my Timex Global Trainer to dial in on my heart rate, speed, and cadence. I felt really good with the dialed down effort. I was also able to really focus on my nutrition and electrolytes. I still maintained a minimum of 800mg/hour of sodium even with the cool conditions. I found out later in the day that this was a very good strategy. I hit sections on the 2nd half of the bike, that I have really struggled with in the past. However, this year, I felt great. There were a few sections on the bike course that got a little dangerous with all of the extra bodies. There are a few steep downhill sections and there were a few people riding right out in the middle of the road and on their brakes. This created a little bit of an issue when a car was coming up the other side. However, that’s part of racing in the age group wave start format. I came off the bike in: 2:17:02. This was about a 2.5 minute CR for me. I was most pleased with how fresh I felt coming off the bike. I was really looking forward to the run.
I went through T2 pretty quickly and tried to build into my race pace. I felt really strong and I started to open up my stride at the 2 mile marker. Endurance racing is funny. You can feel great one moment, then the wheels can come completely off the next. Well, the wheels did not come off, but at the 2.5 mile point I got a massive cramp on inside of my left leg. It almost brought me to a complete stop. I shortened my stride and grabbed my Thermolytes. I started to chew on one. This was not enjoyable at all, but it was very effective. The cramp went away and I made it to the next aid station and took 2 more Thermolytes. In hindsight, it was fortunate that I was so proactive with the electrolytes on the bike. Things could have been a whole lot worse. I continued on my electrolyte dosage the remainder of the run. I felt really strong until the 11 mile mark, when my muscles started to fatigue a bit. I started to incorporate coke at this point for the simple sugars.

I was able to finish the run in 1:19:03, which was my best run on this course by 2 minutes. My overall time was 4:06:36 (my best time by 3.5 minutes on the course). This placed me first amateur overall and 9th including the pros.
Thanks for reading.
-Chris

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So what do you do after 7 days 400k’s, 40,000 feet of climbing, riding, pushing, hiking.  Not to mention a broken derailer hanger, a twisted and jammed front derailer, a loosened and jammed up cassette, riding 30k with zero break pads, two flats, mud packed in every possible pivot, seal and crevasse.  (I will say the Global Trainers never failed and were key.  We had no idea where we were on course so knowing the K’s to go and the elevations we could figure out when the climbs would end, how far to next check point and finish etc.)

Well if you are Will Kelsay you perform the ultimate brick and drive from Alberta to CO and race  the Trans Rockies run.  For me it was a Red Eye back to NY and then straight to a junior Nordic Camp and Stratton Mountain School in the Green Mountains.  After 5 days of camp with 1, 10minute swim, 1, 1hour ride and two hikes up Stratton it was off to Lake Placid and the Adirondacks to the premier Xterra in the east.

I was a little unsure of how I would respond from the past two weeks but Saturday I felt great riding and swimming.  Of course to keep line with all the mud at the Trans Rockies it rained all Sat. night and Sunday.  Although I don’t like racing the rain it does suit my strengths as a mountain biker.  Sunday morning I actually held onto some decent feet and came out 12th and was 4th onto the bikes.  Mid-way through the super techy, rolly, tight single track bike course I was in the lead.  I knew it would be a long race but it was 2.5h when I got off my bike and started running. Good thing I had some extra power gels and blasts plus something called “red bull”.  Then I was able ran strong, smooth push over the hilltops to fastest  55min run split, finishing in 3:25.  Xterra World’s is under 3 hours!

After 3 weeks of bike only or basically nothing I had a great swim and run.  Either it was a taper that worked awesome or maybe I should just ride more.

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